Grease (1978)

Good girl Sandy and greaser Danny fell in love over the summer. But when they unexpectedly discover they're now in the same high school, will they be able to rekindle their romance?

Director:

Randal Kleiser

Writers:

Jim Jacobs (musical), Warren Casey (musical),

Stars:

John Travolta, Olivia Newton-John, Stockard Channing

Nominated for 1 Oscar. Another 3 wins & 7 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
John Travolta	...	Danny Zuko
Olivia Newton-John	...	Sandy Olsen
Stockard Channing	...	Betty Rizzo
Jeff Conaway	...	Kenickie
Barry Pearl	...	Doody
Michael Tucci	...	Sonny
Kelly Ward	...	Putzie
Didi Conn	...	Frenchy
Jamie Donnelly	...	Jan
Dinah Manoff	...	Marty Maraschino
Eve Arden	...	Principal McGee
Frankie Avalon	...	The Teen Angel
Joan Blondell	...	Vi
Edd Byrnes	...	Vince Fontaine
Sid Caesar	...	Coach Calhoun

Storyline

A musical about teens in love in the 50's! It's California, 1959 and greaser Danny Zuko and Australian Sandy Olsson are in love. They spend time at the beach, but when they go back to school, what either of them don't know is that they both now attend Rydell High. Danny's the leader of the T-Birds, a group of black-jacket greasers while Sandy hangs with the Pink Ladies, a group of pink-wearing girls led by Rizzo. When they clash at Rydell's first pep rally, Danny isn't the same Danny at the beach. They try to be like each other so they can be together.

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Plot Keywords:

love | school | greaser | beach | high school | 

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Taglines:

The original high school musical is back! (2010 re-release)

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Genres:

Musical | Romance

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for sexual content including references, teen smoking and drinking, and language

Details

Official Sites:

Official site

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

16 June 1978 (USA)

Also Known As:

Grease Sing-A-Long

Filming Locations:

4524 Kingswell Avenue, Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$6,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

£707,726 (UK) (3 July 1998)

Gross:

$305,260 (USA) (6 August 2010)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Paramount Pictures, Robert Stigwood Organization (RSO), Allan Carr Production

Technical Specs

Runtime:

110 min

Sound Mix:

DTS (re-release) (1998) Dolby Digital (re-release) (1998) Dolby (35 mm prints) (original release) 70 mm 6-Track (70 mm prints) (original release)

Color:

Color (Metrocolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

When Olivia Newton-John was cast as Sandy, her character's background had to be changed to accommodate Newton-John's own background. In the original Broadway musical Sandy was an all-American girl and her last name was Dumbrowski. In the movie version, she became Sandy Olsson, foreign-exchange student from Australia. Also, because of Newton-John's casting, John Farrar (Newton-John's frequent songwriter) had to write two new songs for the film while other songs from the Broadway musical were dropped.

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Goofs

During the last part of the racing sequence, along the river's banked edge, Leo's black convertible loses its front license plate, only to have it re-appear moments later.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Sandy: I'm going back to Australia; I might never see you again.
Danny: Don't... don't talk that way, Sandy.
Sandy: But it's true! I've just had the best summer of my life, and now I have to go away. It isn't fair.
[Danny starts kissing her]
Sandy: Danny, don't spoil it!
Danny: It's not spoiling it, Sandy, it's only making it better.
Sandy: Danny... is this the end?
Danny: Of course not; it's only the beginning.

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Crazy Credits

The beginning credits show the main characters in cartoon form.

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Connections

Referenced in Postcards: Viewers' Special (2007)

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Soundtracks

"Tears on My Pillow"
Written by Sylvester Bradford (as S. Bradford) and Al Lewis (as A. Lewis)
Sung by Sha-Na-Na

User Reviews

One of the best (and most enjoyable) musicals!

GREASE (1978) **** John Travolta, Olivia Newton-John, Jeff Conaway, Stockard Channing, Dinah Manoff, Eve Arden, Sid Caesar, Edd `Kookie' Byrnes, ShaNaNa, Frankie Avalon, Joan Blondell, Ellen Travolta, Eddie Deezen, Lorenzo Lamas. One of the best Broadway musicals ever adapted for the big screen largely thanks to producer Allan Carr and director Randal Kleiser set at Rydell High circa 1950s with Travolta (in his other iconic role) as leather jacket wearing, hunky hood with a heart-of-gold Danny Zuko recalling his `Summer Nights' with Aussie sexpot Newton-John (in her sunny to sultry iconic turn) as goody-goody Sandy who learns some things from The Pink Ladies' tough yet tender leader Rizzo (Channing, ditto). Good old fashioned knuckle-headed comedy and toe-tapping tunes that will have you dancing and singing along to `Greased Lightning' (imagine Elvis doing this!) , the dance contest's hyper-paced `Hand Jive' sequence and the closer `We Go Together'. Title tune by Franki Valli. A film I've seen probably a hundred times and never tire of.